Medical Marijuana Covered For Victims Of Hostilities In Israel: Plus Pot News Around The World

Israel: NII To Fully Cover Medical Marijuana For Victims Of Hostilities

• Israel's National Insurance Institute (NII) will fully cover medical marijuana treatments with a metered inhaler for victims of terrorism or criminal violence, writes The Jerusalem Post.
• To make this possible, NII partnered with the Israeli med-tech company Syqe that developed this special inhaler that is said to provide a measurable and consistent dose of medical marijuana.
• NII director Inbar David said: “We will continue to work in favor of the integration of the most innovative solutions available, to make accessible any medical innovation of proven ability. [This way, we can] improve the mental and physical well-being of the victims of hostilities and their families.”
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Spain: Illegal Cannabis Market Is Flourishing

• Barcelona officers recently raided a house with 800 cannabis plants grown under lamps, reported Reuters. Two Albanian nationals were arrested.
• According to the report, this is almost a daily police routine in the Spanish region of Catalonia, where the illegal cannabis market is flourishing under organized crime groups.
• The police are usually not aimed at arresting small-scale cultivators or users who visit so-called weed clubs that rely on legal loopholes.
• In 2022, Catalan police seized 26 tonnes of cannabis buds, three times more than in 2021.
• Barcelona ranked third among European cities with the highest cannabis in its wastewater last year, according to a study by the EU drugs agency EMCDDA. 

The Netherlands: One Amsterdam District Considers National Pot Cultivation Trial

• The city district of Amsterdam-Oost might participate in the national experiment to regulate the marijuana supply chain for coffee shops, writes NL Times. 
• This project will study the feasibility of legalizing the production, distribution, and sale of marijuana. 
• Contrary to popular belief, marijuana is not fully legal in the country, but the sale of cannabis in coffee shops is just tolerated which requires wholesale cannabis purchases from illegal markets. 
• The Amsterdam mayor highlighted the importance of the project saying “the results of the experiment may eventually lead to changes in the tolerance policy, which may greatly affect the coffee shops and cannabis market in Amsterdam." 
• The Ministers of Justice and Security and Health, Welfare, and Sport will make a call on whether the Amsterdam-Oost district will take part in the project. The other municipalities that are already chosen to take part in the trial include Groningen, Almere, Arnhem, Nijmegen, Zaanstad, Hellevoetsluis, Breda, Tilburg, Maastricht, and Heerlen.
• Photo: Benzinga edit with image from amedeoemaja on Shutterstock